


NewGreen

by Marien



Category: Elfquest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-03-13
Updated: 2007-03-13
Packaged: 2018-01-25 03:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1628603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marien/pseuds/Marien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Story by Marien</p>
            </blockquote>





	NewGreen

**Author's Note:**

> Written for treetelling

 

 

 

 

The two moons lit the summer sky as Ember and her wolf-friend made their way home through the  
woods.  
They'd been out hunting, unsuccessfully for once. Unusual; Ember's skill with a bow  
might not match Nightfall's, but she almost always caught _something._

The other Wolfriders had had more luck, she noticed, seeing Pike and Mender dressing out  
a deer's carcass by the mouth of the cave that led to the Wolfriders' den.  
She slid off Graycloud's back and went to lend a hand.  
Mender stood as she approached, greeting her with a kiss. "How went the hunt?" her lovemate  
asked.

"Not as well as yours. It's quiet tonight..." she shook her head. Her wolf-friend scampered off to  
join the rest of the pack. "Are you--" but her question was interrupted by a sending from another  
tribemate.  
*Ember?* The mind-voice was Redlance's. *Is Nightfall out there with you?*

Ember frowned slightly. *No, * she sent back. *I thought she was hunting with you and Tyleet.  
What's wrong?* Redlance sounded tense. He was usually the most laid-back of the Wolfriders,  
one of the gentlest of her tribe, but his tone had an edge to it.

*She and Mender...had argued, earlier. She said she'd speak to you about it.*

Ember's blue-green eyes narrowed. *Since Nightfall is not here, I'll ask you again. What's wrong  
between them?* Pike and Mender had fallen silent during their conversation. Redlance wasn't  
sending to them, only Ember, but they could sense that she was speaking to someone else. They  
waited respectfully for the Chieftess to finish whatever had caught her notice.

*He had asked Nightfall about Tyleet...* Redlance hesitated. *About Leetah's help when Nightfall  
and I wanted to have a baby. He's never done it, and hoped Nightfall could tell him more of what  
Leetah said or did.*

Mender, like Leetah, was a healer. Elfin children, or 'cubs' in the Wolfrider tribe, were rare outside of  
a Recognized pairing. For any other couple to have a child, often a healer's particular magic was needed.  
*Oh! Are you and Nightfall thinking of trying a second time?* Ember asked, amused and not at all displeased by the idea. *Is there anything I can do?* She was no healer, but if there _was_ anything...

The silence stretched on longer before Redlance answered. *No. Not that we wouldn't welcome a cub, but we aren't discontent. No, it's... Ember, he was thinking of you. You and he...*

Ember's growl made Pike swallow hard, and move quickly out of range. *Oh, did he, now. * She jerked free of Mender's hands on her shoulders, glaring at him in silent fury.  
*Thank you for telling me. I'll take this up with him myself.* But she wouldn't do it until she'd cooled down.  
"Ember? What--" Mender was taken aback.

*Not. NOW!*  
She closed off her sending. Spinning on her heel, she stalked to the tree line.  
Mender had been her first lovemate, and she cared for him, always would...but for him to  
consider such a thing without asking her first?  
No. She wouldn't accept that from any male she knew, whether they were mates or not.

"Ember?" It was Dewshine's voice, and then a shout. "Ember! Mender!"  
Ember's head snapped around as Dewshine's and Nightfall's wolves appeared, carrying their  
elf-friends.  
Nightfall was strapped onto Rushwater's back. Blood stained the front of her tunic and her  
hair. Her bow was still clutched in one hand.  
Ember dropped to her knees beside the wolf, reaching to undo the straps that held Nightfall in  
place, then rip away the ruined tunic. "Mender, are you waiting for next autumn?" she snarled.

The blond haired Healer crouched across from her. Ember watched as he rested his hands gently on  
Nightfall's stomach, and the laceration just under her ribs began to close.  
She turned to Dewshine, her anger of a moment ago forgotten. "Are you hurt? Or are they?"

"No. We were hunting one of the blacknecks, and there was a tree cat on the same trail. We thought  
it had run off, but it doubled back, and went for Nightfall...the wolves killed it. We left the carcass."

"A cat wouldn't attack other hunters unless it was ill, or foamsick. Someone should go burn it; and  
that's not meat anything should be eating, not so much as a single bite."  
Dewshine nodded her agreement.  
"Redlance..." Nightfall's voice was weak, but clear.  
Redlance, having caught Nightfall's scent, was already on his way down the hill to them.  
*Nightfall--!* He sounded panicked.  
Ember put a hand on his arm. "She'll be all right, it's not anywhere as bad as--"

Their eyes met. Ember felt a sudden jolt, not painful but as if something had shaken her from the  
inside out.  
_Ulm..._ The word echoed in her mind, wanting to be spoken.  
She clapped her hand over her mouth. Oh, no, no--not now of all times!  
Redlance paled, staring at her in shock.  
*Kiarr..*

Ember's soul name.  
Only a Wolfrider's parents could know that without being told... or someone Ember had Recognized.  
She dropped her hand, made herself look away.

Mender, finishing Nightfall's healing, wasn't looking at them. Ember caught Dewshine's concerned stare and  
gave the other woman a pleading look. Dewshine nodded briefly, turning to speak to Pike as if nothing unusual had happened.  
Redlance took a deep breath. *Ember...I...*  
*Take care of Nightfall. Come find me later, and we'll sort this out. All three of us,* she added as an  
afterthought. *But please, let ME tell Mender. This is going to be a tangle enough as is.*

*...All right.*

Redlance knelt by Nightfall, pulling her into his arms. Ember's heart gave a twinge. She and Mender cared for one another, but that sort of easy tenderness wasn't quite what lay between them. Not so far, at any rate.

She turned away "Show me where this happened," she said to Dewshine. "We should make sure there aren't any  
more cats in the woods."  
Accompanied by several other Wolfriders, bows or spears at the ready, they headed into the forest. Ember took the distraction as a chance to clear her mind.  
Later that day, alone in her den, she heard soft steps approaching. She noted Redlance's and Nightfall's scents  
before the other two elves came into view. "Come in," she called softly.  
Nightfall entered first. Ember hesitated, then hugged the older woman. They'd been friends since Ember was a  
child, but how they treated one another had changed as Ember grew up. The ties were still strong, though.  
Nightfall's arms circled her shoulders, giving reassurance.  
"Did Redlance tell you...?"  
Nightfall nodded slowly. "I hadn't thought... you two have known each other so long. One would think it would've happened sooner."

Ember rolled her eyes, moving aside to let them have room to sit. "It never exactly makes sense. Else you two  
would have Recognized; who better?"

She had had some time to think, but Redlance's presence was distracting. His scent and the nearness of him  
crowded in on her. She clenched her hands, not letting herself reach toward him.

"Mender...wanted this for himself. But I'm glad it's not he and I," she said out loud, looking into Nightfall's  
golden-eyed gaze.

Surprise flickered across Nightfall's gaze. She raised an eyebrow, silently questioning.

" 'A chief's cubs belong to the tribe,' " Ember quoted. "In some ways, so does the chief. I, I don't think Mender  
always understands that. It's why I never became his lifemate instead."

Redlance sat cross-legged on one of the blankets. "Neither...am I sorry," he admitted, "not truly; how could I be?  
But-- Do you not mean the tribe to know who the cub's father is, then?"

"Is that what you want?" Ember countered.

"No!" he said at once, vehemently.

She nodded slowly. "Nor do I. I hope...I'd hope he or she was like you. It isn't only fierceness and 'fire' we need,  
you know. Peace, and green growing things, those are your gift. They do matter. You make things better for everyone, Redlance. Don't doubt that."

Nightfall kept quiet, letting the two come to grips with this.  
Ember finally let out a long breath, looked to her, then to Redlance. "Only this one night..." she waited for his nod of agreement. * _Ulm..._ * She sent his soulname to him. She wouldn't speak it aloud yet. Nightfall had been patient and generous; Ember wasn't surprised, but there had to be limits.  
Redlance's lifemate discreetly slipped out, as Redlance closed the distance between himself and Ember.

Ember looked up into his green eyes, and wound her arms about him, pulling him in close as she'd longed to do  
all that long day.

Neither spoke again for some time.

Ember woke first, later, happy and relieved. Redlance stirred but didn't wake, still cradling her.

She touched her abdomen, wonderingly. It was too soon to tell, by hearing or scent. She had a feeling though that yes, she was with cub.  
There was a brief image in her mind's eye, of a little girl with Redlance's emerald green eyes and Ember's brown skin, dark-haired rather than red. She thought, and smiled to herself.  
When he woke up, she decided, she'd tell him, and ask him what he thought of "Nightsong" for a cub-name.  
A little later. For now, she'd enjoy the moment's happiness, the _now._

 

 

 


End file.
